Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳 🎉. I've enjoyed reading everyone's replies and finding this a good time for reassessment. I started this thread but held back on replying with my own goals, as I spend some time evaluating. I spend 2018 - 2020 opening about 11 new cards to replace some that I had closed over the years and as I realigned my profile. Out of the eight cards I had three years ago, four are now older than 20 years old and have each been product-changed at least once along the journey. My rewards cards were lagging the market and I hadn't started diversifying into travel cards. Most of the cards I had closed in the last decade or two had been low or no rewards cards, BT cards, or store cards. Times have changed. 
My long term goals have been to boost and keep my FICO scores very high, update my rewards cards to include adding travel cards for DW and I use for travel in retirement, and to boost both individual and total credit limits while household income is high before it stabilizes at a lower level in retirement. And my goal is a collection of cards well-diversified among solid prime lenders.
That flurry of activity in 2018 - 2020 proved to be a little much and I got my first two denials in decades in 2020. Consequently, I don't plan to return to that level of adding new cards. Some of you may have noticed how my applications for new credit stopped rather abruptly. I'm more about quality, not quantity.
My 2022 goals are first to continue to grow my limits, primarily with soft-pull CLIs. I currently have three cards at or above $50K. By year-end, I hope to at least double that to six or maybe even seven in the range of $50K to $100K. It appears to me that I may be able to increase TCL by $77K by mostly SP CLIs, before adding any new cards. I plan for them to be diversified with a variety of the largest US banks, credit unions or credit card issuers including Chase, Bank of America, Discover, Navy FCU, PenFed, Goldman Sachs. I also hope to boost my total limits with other large issuers including AMEX and Citibank. I prefer to have fewer cards with higher limits than a huge collection with lower limits. My Chase cards will be streamlined by the end of the year with consolidated credit limits.
Two of the other largest US banks, Wells Fargo and US Bank are on the back burner but not totally out of the picture. Wells Fargo's future may depend on their next steps with revealing new cards this year. I have high hopes based on the rumors that have been leaking out, and I think a travel card might be offered. If I'm attracted, I'll be in a prime position to apply since I have opened only one new account since August 2020. My Wells Fargo Cash Wise would likely be combined with that card if I add it. If I don't add one, I may abandon thoughts of WF and close the Cash Wise or possibly try to PC it to Active Cash. I don't need another 1.5% card.
In April 2022, I'll fall back under 5/24 again, even with having added the AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant in Nov 2021. Chase led the way in my 2018-2019 applications when I added five new Chase cards, so I haven't applied with them lately. But I'm considering the INK Business Unlimited card with hopefully the same $750 SUB or better. I've also considered opening an AMEX Blue Business Plus to pair with my Gold card (or to park my MRs with if I decided to close the Gold.). I like the baseline of 2x MRs up to $50K and it is more inline with my general preference for flat-rate uncategorized earnings cards.
I'm considering a CITI card application to broaden my exposure with them beyond my $39K Costco card. I'm considering an AAdvantage card, either the Executive card since I do travel on American more but I might consider the lower-fee Platinum. I'm also wondering if Citi might reintroduce their Prestige card or a replacement since I think it's odd that they would just give up all of their market share in the premier travel card segment. One of Citi's travel cards would be more in line with my goals than a CCC, DC, R+. Travel cards appear to start out at higher limits and grow more easily.
I started the Elan Max Cash Preferred thread and had seriously considered an application myself. But it was mainly to bypass USB's 1/12 rule and to get it for home utilities for a nominal increase in rewards. Questioning this card along with several other viable rewards cards (like the Citi Custom Cash; USB Cash +; a second BofA Customized Cash Rewards; Chase Amazon or Freedom Flex; Affinity FCU Cash Rewards; etc) make me realize that I'm not really a full rewards optimizer like some of our members. Straying too far into optimizing rewards adds more complexity to my lineup than I care to manage. Maybe I'll reconsider, but that's where I am right now.
AMEX continues to dangle a juicy 100K MR + $150 cash offer for product changing my Gold card to Platinum. I may do it once I finish meeting my Marriott card SUB, but I'm 99% sure it would only be for a year. While they might convince me otherwise, I believe the Platinum card just doesn't really fit my spend as well as Gold and the credits are not useful to me.
I considered it, but the X-1 card is off the table due to several concerns including privacy issues. I think the Venture X might be a good card to test for travel rewards and might fit my profile well, but it's not a priority for 2022. I'm thinking a new Wells Fargo or Citi card will be more compelling for me. A second or third Navy card is off the table for now, as long as they continue to deny CL consolidations. I'll continue to grow my Platinum and might eventually PC to Flagship Rewards so that it can continue to grow beyond $50K.
So in a nutshell:
- Continued CLIs on a half dozen cards
- New CITI card - TBD
- Chase INK Business Unlimited ... a hard pull but won't show on my personal report.
- Possible new TBD Wells Fargo card
- Possible new AMEX Blue Business Plus ... hopefully a soft pull and won't show on my personal report.
- Possible Temporary product change Gold - Platinum ... no hard pull
In 2021, I added a few cards to my wallet to optimize my cashback and I could cover ~5% in all categories. I think, I am set and I will do gardening for several months. I may consider applying for ~1-2 cards in mid or late 2022 (Citi custom cash or another card with high SUB).
I wish that the pandemic situation would become better in 2022 and if by chance, it would be safe to travel several times per year, I may consider going to the MR direction. For the moment, I will stay within the cashback ecosystems considering cards with no or limited AF (<100$).
Fico8: EX~EQ~TU~840 (12 month goal~850).
@wasCB14 wrote: @Aim_High How do you see yourself spreading your spend across all those different reward programs, once any SUB requirements are met?
That's a good question, @wasCB14. The best answer is probably that the jury is still out. In the past three years, I've enhanced but also complicated my rewards earning quite a bit. I used to have fewer cards, no travel rewards, and lower cash back rewards like my Capital One Quicksilver, Chase Freedom Unlimited, or Citibank Costco. Now I've got better cash back cards including multiple paying uncategorized rewards at 2% or above plus I'm dabbling in Chase URs, AMEX MRs, and hotel points with Marriott and Hyatt. And deciding which card to use for a purchase has become more complex.
I don't really see myself as diversified as some of our friends on My Fico. I still have a pretty heavy presence in cash back card options and I highly value that flexibility. Sometimes, straight and easy cash is hard to beat. My cash back cards will always get at least some spend to keep them active. Besides cashback, I have AMEX Member Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy points, and some World of Hyatt points. Very little with Hilton or IHG.
If you were wondering if I'm spreading myself too thinly that is possible but I have a different focus. I'm test-driving multiple major lenders while diversifying my lineup and leaving myself a lot of flexibility in rewards options. I want to be able to switch easily between cash back, or over to MRs, or URs, or over to Marriott Bonvoy points, depending on my objectives at that time. I may narrow this down later but right now, I'm trying out some new (to me) programs and evaluating as-I-go. Maximizing any single type of rewards is not my goal. Similarly, that's why I've posted recently about avoiding more rotating category cards since their goal is maximizing cash back rewards. It's not the direction I choose to go at this time.
What a new Wells Fargo travel card program looks like is still to-be-determined. So I don't know how it would fit in. A strong program that competes well with Chase or AMEX could create some serious new questions. Wells Fargo could become a much more serious player if they want to do so. They're the third largest US bank behind Chase and Bank of America, much larger in assets than some of the largest US credit card issuers including AMEX.
I'm not really interested in CITI TY points unless CITI was to do a dramatic makeover of the Prestige card as I alluded to. I've got my plate full enough with URs and MRs. That's why I err towards an American Airlines card to add credit limits with Citi. And that is as much for lender diversity and possibly the Admiral's Club membership as it is about stockpiling AAdvantage points.
I don't want a fistful of hotel and airline cards but one of each would probably fit my lifestyle and budget. I don't plan to keep my Hyatt card or even my second Marriott (Chase) card. Just one Marriott and one American Airlines would be those two. Neither would probably get heavy regular spend outside of that airline / hotel, but both would give me some perks. And both would give me the option of focusing some higher periodic spend to save points towards travel if I wanted to do so. Also, since Hyatt is a transfer partner for my CSR, I can use URs for Hyatt if I want to and to keep my Hyatt account points fresh.
For most travel, that just leaves primarily Chase URs and AMEX MRs, at least for now. I started out 100% committed to URs but decided to evaluate MRs also. I had never had an MR-earning AMEX card before so it was new territory. For the last year or so, AMEX has been siphoning off a significant amount of my prior Chase spend. I've been meeting SUBs, taking advantage of special offers, and building up my MR bank. I'm still playing with how MRs will work for me over the long haul, and I haven't even redeemed any yet. I've just spent a little time looking at options on the AMEX website and listening to others on the forum with a lot of AMEX experience. Give me a year or two to evaluate as I redeem more of those points and I will likely lean towards one favorite. The nice thing is that if I choose URs, I just added the AMEX Marriott card which earns Bonvoy points instead of MRs, so I could keep my lender diversity with AMEX while still prioritizing UR earning with Chase. My gut tells me URs will fit me better, but I'm analytical enough to make a fair decision if MRs win out. The big battle between URs and MRs, though, is why I don't choose to muddy the waters with TYs or why I also deferred the application for the Capital One Venture X. I might be able to play in two travel systems but not three or four. My lifestyle and budget is more modest. And that's also another reason why I put US Bank and the Altitude Reserve on the back burner for 2022. It's just too similar to the CSR.
As for how I will use the cards, I like being able to rotate cards in and out of my wallet to use them all and keep them fresh. I like being able to do that without concern for categories or spending caps or whether I could have gotten a little better rewards rate on a different card. It's all good. So I put some charges on my PenFed Power Cash at 2% or my Premium Rewards at 2.625% instead of getting 3% on my AOD FCU Visa. They all get some usage and I get rewards on each. With the cash back cards, worst case scenarios are $25 minimum redemption so the rewards pay out pretty quickly, even if not used monthly. I do the same with my URs, MRs, and hotel points. They may accrue more slowly that way instead of focusing all my efforts on that program, but I'm in no hurry to use them. However, if I set a goal for a particular trip, I may focus spending on the cards that will help me most in achieving it.
Long-term, I plan to be slimming down my wallet more, but pumping up limits on some selected cards is part of that process. I posted about possible "two-card combos" in Smorgasbord and may just carry one or two of those at at time. I'm just not at the point I'm ready to close a lot of cards that are less useful at the moment.
Hope this helped to answer your question and if you have suggestions feel free to offer them.
I just got the US Bank Altitude Go, Citi Custom Cash, and BILT cards in the last few months so planning to garden for the first few months, and perhaps pick up the US Bank Cash+. Trying to pick up the Affinity FCU card towards the end of the year when the categories are ones I'll really use, already got the high interest savings so hoping for a preapproval eventually. I also have my eye on the AOD card but that might be a long shot due to my recent new accounts, probably not within the next year.
